The present invention relates to the use of an apparatus for the separation of particles, which includes a vessel filled with an aqueous solution and provided with baffles radiating from a shaft placed concentrically in the vessel and in the direction of a circumferential wall of the vessel. The vessel is provided with at least two collecting means for the separated particles, which collecting means have their own discharge means, and in use the baffles move so as to impart a movement to the aqueous solution. The invention also relates to a method of separating a particle fraction from a particle stream, wherein the particles of the particle stream are separated in a fluid in a container under the influence of gravitational force based on difference in vertical velocity. The fluid and the particles are moved in a substantially horizontal direction defining a relative direction of movement, and a first particle fraction is collected at a first location, and at a second location somewhat removed from the first location, a second particle fraction is collected in respective collecting means. Means are provided for causing the fluid to move in the relative direction of movement.
Such a method and use of an apparatus are known from the German patent application DE 1 119 191 for the separation of seeds into distinct fractions.